JtT-^ 


OB  rFt 


ATLANTA  REGISTER 


TO  THS 


PEOPLE  OF  THE 


CONFEDERATE  STATES. 


ONE  DOLLAR  PER  COPY. 


ATLANTA,   GA. 

J.    JL.    SI^KR.R.'V    9c   CO. 

AUGDSTA,    GA. 


THE  ftOWERS  COLLECTION 


Ty.T^ 


ADDRESS 


TrOv^' 


OF   THE   ATLANTA  REGISTER 

TO    THE    PEOPLE 


OF  THE 


Confederate  Stales. 


Fki.low  Couxtrymkx  :  We  are  indeed 
fellow-countrymen  iu  a  now  and  most 
impressive  sense.  The  riinal  of  sorrow 
in  which  all    ^reat  11 'Vointions  chaunt 
to  human  hearts  their  deepest   mean- 
ings, has  conrttx'vated  uis  afresh  to  one 
another  in  the  cifioes  of  patriotic  fellow- 
ship.    Folio w-c.iuntrymen,  by  virtue  of 
birth  and  blood  ;  united  through  those 
cnmmoii     trwditions    and     sentiments 
which,  ut   the  period  of  our   ancestral 
aire,  funned   an   era  iu   the   career   of 
Modern   '''ivilizatiou,  and  in   our   day, 
have   re-produced  themselves    with   a 
broader  sig-niGc  ince  ;  sharing',  too,  the 
game  inst'ucts,  the  same  aims,  the  same 
heroic  iui^pirations;  we  have  been  made 
fellow-conntryuieu  in  a  larger  measure 
of  affection  by  means  of  those  sacrifi- 
ces and   suiTerinf^s,  which   Providence 
has  ordained,   and,  in  ordaining*,  has 
anointed  us  to  endure.     A  holier  sanc- 
tity, breathrd  from  Heaven,  has   been 
imparted  to  our  civil  and  social  rela- 
tions.    The    strono^   fibres    that   three 
years  since  bound  us  to  father.'^,  broth- 
ers, sons,  now  bind  us  to  the  soil,  in  | 
which   their    martyred   dust    reposes,  j 
We    are     Fellow-countrymen    as    we  I 
never  were  before.     If  we  riejhtly  ap- ! 
predate  this  fact,  it  may  lead  us    into 
those  wide  realms  of  thouurht    which 
involve  the   raomontous  future.     Sub' 


lime  and  impassioned  feelings  are  t!ie 
highest  achievement  of  Revolutions  ; 
and  be  assured,  if  this  gigantic  confl-ct 
draw  you  closer  together,  there  will 
spring  from  it  that  profounder  convie- 
tionof  human  brotherhood  which  Anx-- 
rican  civilization  has  hitlierto  violated, 
and  thereby  incurred  a  guilt,  for  which 
it  stands  arraigned  at  God's  unst 
rigliteous  bar. 

Repeat  it.  then,  to  your  hearts,  that 
we  aie  Fellow-countrymen  in  this  tcr.. 
rific  struggle,  and  that  these  words, 
always  a  voico  of  hisioric  and  pro- 
phetic import,  have  to-day  an  emphasis 
past  computation.  The  decree  of  Pri>- 
vidence  has  transfigured  us  into  a 
oneness  such  as  no  people  ever  exhibit- 
ed. Heroic  qualities,  once  regarded 
aa  the  attributes  of  the  few,  have, 
during  this  strife,  immortalized  the 
many.  The  whole  population  has  been 
condensed  into  one  mighty  incarnation 
of  valor,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
annals  of  hnmanfty,  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, have  been  joint-participants  in 
a  granil  conflict,  and  joint  heirs  of  its 
illustrious  renown.  Towards  one  an-* 
other,  towards  our  political  institutions 
we  are  all  republicans — the  same  re« 
publicans  as  when  in  1789,  we  shaped 
the  American  Constitution  to  be  the 
embodiment  of  the  popular  will.     Civ 


1>12  D  r,^ 


2 


ADDBKSS   TO   THE   PEOPLE 


ilization  never  outgrows  a  g^reat  pn'n- 
c  pie  ;  cii^^umstances  never  lessen  its 
value  ;  time,  ruthless  io  all  else,  never 
dooms  it  to  decay.  A  great  principle 
is  not  an  invention,  not  a  discovery, 
not  a  creation.  It  is  a  revelation — the 
thought  of  Ood  communicated  to  man  ; 
and  as  He  pleases,  at  different  inter- 
vals, page  after  page,  chapter  after 
chapter,  are  add<*d  to  those  Providen- 
tial Scriptures,  wliich,  like  the  Bible  tt) 
the  Christian,  form  the  text-book  for 
eartlily  faith  and  practice.  The  nature 
of  such  a  principle  renders  it  supreme. 
Invested  with  suprt-macy,  it  subordi- 
nates all  otlier  principles  to  itself, 
infuses  into  then)  its  vitality,  and 
reigns  as  sovereign  in  the  wt>i  Id  of 
tliought  Rule  it  will,  rule  it  must, 
because  Almighty  God  is  in  it. 

Such  a  principle  is  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people,  l^it,  while  we  are 
Republicans,  hereditary,  organic  Re- 
publicans, let  your  enemies  understand, 
my  countrymen,  that  you  are  towards 
them  and  their  barbarian  l)(>mocracy, 
an  ■  aristocracy  in  arms.  The  true 
cavalier  blood  flows  in  your  veins,  the 
true  cavalier  spirit  throbs  in  your 
arteries,  and  as  long  as  veins  and  ar- 
teries reciprocate  each  other's  oflBce,  so 
long  will  you  show  the  majestic  bear- 
ing that  now  confronts  y(jur  adversa- 
ries. This  blood,  this  spirit,  maket* 
you  an  unit.  Nor  can  you  t)e  otherwise 
than  you  are.  Brutes  lose  their  in- 
stincts ;  men,  never.  It  is  this  instinct 
that  your  savage  enemies  are  fighting. 
They  know  its  power.  "Pcjwer,  did  I 
Bay  I"  'Tis  not  a  power,  but  a  force. 
Your  enemies  remember  its  history,  its 
j  »alousy  of  F'ederal  autiiority,  its  sac- 
ramental fidelity  to  conviction.  Saga- 
cious enough  to  foresee  how  this  in- 
stinct, embodying  itself  in  the  only  true 
conception  of  American  Liberty,  must 
permeate  this  continent — how  propa- 
gative  its  intense  vitality — how  resist 
I -88  its  subtle  and  electric  sympathy, 
they  have  deemed  no  expenditure  of 
treasure  too  costly,  no  volume  of  life 
too  large,  no  energy  too  titanic,  no 
carnival  of  death  too  horrible,  if  they 
can  but  crush  its  mighty  strength.  But' 
ia  conformity  with  the  victorioCis  pur- 


I  poses  of    thia»  revolution,    Providence 
,  has  long  been  preparing  you  by  a  series 
of  events  stretching  from  the  lamee- 
'  town  of  1607  to  the  Richmond  of  1864, 
,  for  that  unity  of  sentiment,  will   and 
prowess,  wiich  y(m  now  display.  Such 
a  sublime  spectacle    the   world   never 
beheld.     Eight  millions  of  people  stand 
ready  to  be  eight  millions  of   martyrs. 
:  P'rance  in  the  days  .of  the  great  Revo. 
I  lution  had  her  La  Vendee.     The  dynas- 
j  ty  of  Cromwell  had  Charles  the  Second 
I  in   waitii^   for  the  hour   of   reaction  ; 
':  while  in  tlie   Revolution  of  1688,  such 
was  the  division  of  (jpinion  and  feeling 
in  England,  and  at)  e;igerly  was  it  foa- 
tered   by  France,   that   William  C"uld 
not  rel)'  upon  his  own  subjects  to  furn- 
ish means  for  supporting  his  Govern- 
ment.    Not    80  with    us.     The    unity 
evinced  in  this  Revolution  is  more  re- 
markable than   the   Revolution  itself  ; 
nor  should  we  regard  it  an  a  mere  fea- 
ture, but   as   an    internal    principle   of 
life,  which,  called  long  since  into  beiijg 
•and  constantly  nourished  by  the   re- 
sources of   accumulating  energy,  has 
entered  finally  on  its  magnificent  work. 
Do  not   overlook  this   cardinal   fact. 
Do  not   misapprehend  its   nature   aiid 
bearings.     It  is  not  a  fortunate  acci- 
dent, njr  a  lucky  circumstance,  but  a 
genuine  historical  result.     To  compre- 
hend the  import  of  this  unity,  you  must 
not  simply  study  the  political   and  so- 
cial events,  which,  during  two  centu- 
ries, have   transpired    on    this    hemis- 
phere.    These  events  themselves  were 
historic  results,  links  in  that  chain  of 
unity  which   now  binds  you  so  firmly 
together.     The  original  charters  under 
which  the  American  colonies  were  set- 
tled •  the    physical  geography  of  our 
section  of  the  continent  ;  the  peculiari- 
ties of  blood,  temperament  and  habits  ; 
tlKJse  are  the  sources  to  which  this  unity 
must  be  traced.     Nor  must  you  fail  to 
notice  that  Southern  unity  has  been  a 
fundamental  fact  in  the  entire  career 
of  American  civilization.     But  for  its 
energetic  activity,  the  incipient  policy 
of  the  thirteen  colonies  would   never 
have  shaped  itself  in   the    particular 
form  of  freedom  which  it  secured.     It 
gave  the  tipecitic  aim  to  the  Revolution 


A   PROVIDENTIAL   RACE. 


of  me.  It  wrote  the  Declaration  of 
ludependence.  It  made  Otis  and 
Adarn«,  the  Patrick  Henrys  of  New 
Enf?Iand.  Had  its  presence  as  an  in., 
spi ration,  been  wanting  in  1812,  the 
memorable  war  that  determim-d  our 
Foreign  Policy,  and  introduced  Ameri- 
can ideas  into  International  Law  would 
not  have  been  foutrht.  Strengthened 
l>y  these  conquests  of  principle  much 
more  than  by  material  acquisitions, 
this  same  unity  of  the  South  opened  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  added  the 
Empire  of  Texas,  and  »nriched  the 
wealth  of  the  whole  country  with  tlie 
ij^old  of  California.  Such  is  its  past. 
but  its  present  is  still  more  significant; 
and  today,  January  1st,  1804,  after 
accomplishing  its  providential  purpose 
in  the  Union,  it  has  been  detached  from 
its  long-cherished  connections,  that  it 
may  enter  upon  a  sphere  wi([er,  nobler. 
and  far  more  momentous  to  the  welfare 
of  the  Atnorican  continent,  to  the  inte- 
rests of  universal  brotherhood,  and  to 
the  destinies  of  future  ages,  than  it  has 
hitherto  occupied. 


A    PROVIDENTIAL    RACE. 

First  of  all,  then,  my  countrymen^ 
you  should  realize  that  you  are  a  Pro<« 
vidential  Race.  The  idea  of  races, 
separated  from  the  economy  of  Provi- 
dence, has  no  logical  or  moral  value. 
It  is  a  poxl  mortem,  illuminated  by  the 
lamp  ot  ii»e  sepulchre.  Worthless  as  a 
speculation,  it  becomes  one  of  the  moet 
pernicious  of  errors,  when  statesman- 
ship undertakes  to  deal  with  its  great 
facts  on  the  mere  ground  of  selfish  and 
sordid  interests.  The  philosophical  and 
practical  problems  of  the  age,  which 
now  engage  so  much  attention,  are 
mainly  resolvable  into  the  relations  of 
races  to  one  another,  and  to  the  race 
as  a  whole.  The  "one  blood,"  out  of 
which,  in  its  containing  fulness,  God 
hath  made  'all  nations,"  could  never 
have  unity  unless  it  had  variety  ;  there 
could  not  exist  a  race  except  in  the 
forfn  of  races  ;  and  hence  to  attain  a 
perfect  civiliz  ition  as  the  patrimony  of 
man,  these  disti  ibution^  of  brain  and 
heart,  those  direct  instincts  that  hug 


the  sands  of  the  desert  in  the  Arab, 
cling  to  the  sea  in  the  Scandinavian, 
keep  down  Mongolians  on  the  same 
fixed  level  with  their  remote  ancestry, 
but  convert  Norse  pirates  into  EnglL-h 
Lords.  These  are  the  forces  dividing 
the  race  into  present  ineqnal'ties  for 
future  wholeness^  Usages,  arU,  ii  - 
stitutions,  politics,  are  matters  nf 
races  ;  nor  can  we  have  political 
economy  or  international  law  worthy 
of  their  ideal  functions  until  this  fact  • 
is  seen  as  fundamental.  Each  of  these 
races  has  its  providential  offices,  its 
allotted  limits,  individuality  of  endow* 
nients,  its  divine  tasks,  its  ultimate 
ends.  Agreeably  to  this  truth,  we 
shall  make  little  progress  in  a  rati^)iial 
system  of  international  industry,  or  in 
the  establishment  of  a  basis  for  the- 
pacification  of  the  conflicting  inter*  st« 
of  the  world,  unless  we  comurelieiid  the 
economy  of  Providence  in  the  organi- 
zation of  races. 

You  belong  to  the  Anglo-Sax^'n  Rhco 
In  politics,  its  race-feature  is  repre- 
sentation ;  in  science,  induction  ;  in 
art,~  utility,  .and  tlien  beauty  ;  in  soci- 
ety, domesticity  •  ii^  trade,  cosniopoli- 
tantism  ;  in  religion,  Protestantism.  So 
thoroughly  ingrained  are  these  in-- 
stincts,  that  they  assert  themselves 
everywl>ere,  nnder  all  circumstances, 
with  overmastering  energy.  For  the. 
fusion  of  other  elements  into  them- 
selves, these  instincts  have  an  nub  win- 
ded capacity.  For  the  maintenance  of 
their  cliosen  ground,  they  ouiwjrk  and 
outfiglit  the  world.  Such  are  the  quili- 
ties,  my  countrymen,  that  designate 
your  Providential  position.  Apply  any 
tjst  of  Providence  to  tne  settlenient  of 
your  ancestors  in  these  land.?  ;  to  tiie 
Anglo-Saxon  instincts  and  aspirations 
which  made  them  the  pioneeis  ot  a  new 
continent  no  less  than  the  proph-ts  of 
a  new  age  ;  to  the  Scotch,  Irish,  and 
Huguenot  sentiments,  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  gave  such  an  emphasis  to^ 
their  political  doctrines,  ami,  on  the 
other,  such  impassioned  intensity  to 
their  feelinc^,  to  the  physical  laws  of 
soil  and  climate  which  th<'y  were  cuni- 
pelled  to  ol>ey  ;  to  the  imperial  s»:ise 
of  persomvl    individuality  which  t     ir 


ADDRESS   TO   THB   PEOPLE. 


plantation  life  created;  to  tlic  thorough 
consistency  with  which  they  remained 
Englishmen  until  England,  in  a  swoon 
of  her  pijlitical  intellect,  ceased  to  be 
Ent,'land  to  them  ;  to  their  transforma- 
tion into  American!!  by  the  outgrowth 
of  ideas  from  within,  so  tiiat  their  new 
political  civilization  represented  them- 
selves, not  their:,  industry  and  trade,  as 
it  did  at  the  North  ;  and  then  study 
the  wide  historic  unfoldings  of  these 
■  facts,  and  you  will  need  no  furtlicr 
proof  that  Providenee  has  stamped  its 
seal  upon  your  race.  But  while  the 
argument  requires  no  confirmatory 
evidence,  it  cannot  bo  expletive  to  fur- 
nish illustrations  of  its  truth. 

Look,  lellow-countrymen,  at  the  fact, 
that  your  statesmen  conceived  the  the- 
ory of  the  American  iJonstitution,  and 
that  they,  always  more  devoted  to  the 
service  of  the  Federal  Government  than 
to  domestic  and  local  statesmanship, 
furnitihed  the  leaders  under  whose  gui- 
dance the  Union  grew  into  continental 
magnitude.  Look,  too,  how  theiy  guar- 
ded the  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty, 
the  providential  principle  of  American 
■civilization,  and  tlifi  germ  of  all  the  in- 
^lustrial  and  social  s^randeur  of  this 
hemisphere.  Look  at  the  Airican,  com- 
initted  to  your  hands  as  a  solenm  trust 
irom  God,  that  by  means  of  servitude 
.you  might  remove  the  curse  from  his 
original  condition,  and  put  him  under 
■A  system  of  remedial  advancement. 
Europe  never  could  have  used  Afr'ca 
for  any  purpose  connected  with  the 
world's  progress.  Fixed  laws  forbade 
it.  The  vast  continent,  disowned  and 
degraded,  swung  from  Asia-Europe  as 
a  world  of  <lead  sand.  But  you  have 
made  it  a  living  world.  It  has  un- 
loosed' itself  from  Asia-Europe,  and, 
binding  itself  to  your  magnificent  do- 
main, it  has  become  a  fruitful  tropic. 
Such  facts  are  Providence  in  flesh  and 
blood.  Through  their  instrumentality 
Providence  incarnates  itself  so  that  we 
may  see  it,  h(!ar  it,  handle  it,  walk  with 
it.  The  highest  dignity  of  a  race,  its 
genuine  power,  its  capjR;ity  for  en- 
largement by  absorption  f'om  without 
as  well  as  by  growth  from  within,  its 
abilitv  to  serve  the  world,  these   all 


proceed  from  a  sense  of  that  Providen' 
tial  ministry  which  it  executes.  The 
true  life  of  a  nation  can  be  nothing 
else  than  a  working  out  o(  its  Provi- 
dential ordinations.  Depend  upon  it, 
fellow-countrymen,  till  you  see  this, 
3'ou  see  nothing.  If  your  statcaman- 
ship  fail  to  comprehend  it,  1  warn  yon 
that  it  will  be  a  profane  and  atheistic 
statesmanship  ;  aiid  nothing  will  re- 
main for  your  political  probation,  but 
to  agonize  on  amid  a  wilder  turbulancc 
and  a  larger  outpouring  of  blood.  Be- 
lieve me  when  I  tell  you  that  this  war, 
cruel,  tyrannical,  brutal  as  it  is  on  the 
part  ot  your  enemies,  and  subjeeting 
you  to  the  endurance  of  superhuman 
wrongs,  has  an  incalculable  value  for 
yourselves,  and  for  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  wn  this  hemisphere.  But  the  re- 
alization of  this  immense  benefit  will 
be  determined  by  the  clearness  with 
which  you  see,  and  the  fidelity  with 
which  you  embrace,  the  Providential 
principle  of  American  civilization. 


THE    PROVIDENTIAL    PRINCIPLE    OF  AMERICAN 
CIVILIZATION. 

This  principle  is  Local  Sovereignty. 
I  call  it  a  Providential  principle  be-" 
cause  its  nature,  history,  results,  indi- 
cate its  origin.  Looking  at  its  nature, 
we  see  that  it  is  analogoas  in  politics 
to  that  seutiraent  of  personal  agency 
and  responsibility,  on  which  Christian- 
ity founds  its  entire  influence  over 
character  and  conduct.  Its  history, 
whether  traced  in  Europe  or  upon  this 
continent,  evinces  an  energy,  an  ex- 
pansibility, no  other  ])rinciple  has  dis- 
played. In  its  results,  we  find  every- 
thing that  allies  a  principle  with  the 
happier  fortunes  of  mankind. 

Had  the  celouization  of  this  conti- 
nent followed  immediately  after  its 
discovery,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that 
this  germ  with  its  capacity  for  growth 
would  not,  at  that  time,  have  been 
planted  in  our  soil.  The  sixteenth 
century  had  no  such  principle  to  give 
this  new  world  of  the  West,  and  hence, 
every  effort  tc  occupy  its  territory, 
although  imagination,  ambition,  and 
adventure  stimulated  the  work,  signal- 


PRINCIPLE   OF   AMERICAN   CIVILIZATION. 


g 


ly  failed.  Neither  the  influence  of  the 
"  good  and  brave  Coli^jny,"  nor  the 
splendid  .xbililies  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
could  Bullice  to  accomplish  an  object 
so  dear  to  their  all'ections,  and  so  in- 
spiriting to  their  iio^es.  Even  then, 
England  had  tiie  resources,  the  means, 
the  population,  with  which,  logically 
speaking,  the  process  of  colonizing 
could  have  been  commenced.  But  she 
was  not  England.  Not  yet  liberated 
from  her  prejudices,  and  from  tlie  ser- 
vile pulicy  which  she  had  blindly  in- 
herited from  a  darker  age,  she,  had  to 
wait  fur  the  century  of  Milton,  when 
her  own  constitution  shaped  itself  to 
the  ideal  of  freedom  before  any  marked 
progress  could  be  made  in  colonizing 
these  lands.  Uuder  the  charters  gran- 
ted. Local  Sovereignty  grew,  by  de- 
grees, to  be  tlie  leading  fact  in  colo- 
nial history.  Where  the  internal  strug- 
gle was  stvi're,  as  in  the  case  of  Virgi- 
nia, the  triuQiph  of  the  principle  was 
most  signal.  Where  it  was  repress- 
ed, as  in  the  colony  of  New  Nether- 
lands;, through  the  mercantile  aristoc- 
racy of  the  m(»ther  country,  no  pros- 
perity was  enjoyed.  New  Amstevdatu 
became  New  York  when  the.  Dutch 
colony  passed  into  the  hands  of.  the 
English,  and  then,  "for  the  first  time 
the  voice  of  the  people  was  heard  in 
its  legislation  ;  it  began  thenceforth  to 
advance  rapidly  in  population,  and, 
notwithstanding  occasional  seasons  of 
trial  and  depression,  gave  early  prom- 
ise of  what  it  was  one  day  to  become." 

Thus  early  did  this  principle  acquire 
a  firm  hold  on  American  soil  as  the 
tap-root  of  the  Tree  of  li^'berty,  which 
should  determine  the  height  of  its  lofty 
trunk,  and  the  outreach  of  its  broad 
branches.  Without  doubt,  it  was  an 
abridged  principle..  But  still  it  was  a 
principle,  vital,  aggressive,  elastic. 
And  had  this  bingle  principle  been 
wanting,  the  colonies  could  never  have 
been  reared  to  +hat  Ktreugth  of  manhood 
which  enabled  them  to  confront  so 
.sturdily  the  arms  of  England. 

The  principle  (jf  Local  Sovereignty, 
as  practically  applied  during  the  colo- 
nial era  was  often  perverted.  But 
even    its  abases    were   overruled    for 


good.  To  develop  a  great  political 
and  morai  principle,  it  is  Uf^cessary  to 
subject  it  to  int'^stine  conflict,  no  less 
than  to  outward  strife.  Precisely  in 
this  two-fold  manner,  was  this  doctrine 
purified  from  its  corruptions,  and  fitted 
lor  its  perfect  work.  Jealous  of  its 
claims,  Englan^l  resisted  its  progress 
and  thus  intensified  its  strength,  while 
the.intolerance  exhibited  towards  Roger 
Williams  in  Massachusetts,  and  to- 
wards the  Quakers  in  \irginia,  pre-:, 
pared  the  way  for  that  sentiment  of 
religious  liberty  which  was  subse- 
quently established.  Step  by  step  tiiis 
doctrine  of  Local  Sovereignty  advanced 
until  it  brought  on  a  collision  between 
tlie  mother  country  and  the  colonies. 
Only  one  thing  remained  for  it  to  ac 
complish,  viz  :  to  change  Englishmen 
into  Americans,  and  this  result,  aided 
by  revohrtionai-y  agencies,  was  speedi- 
ly attained.  Viewing  this  subject, 
then,  in  the  light  of  facts,  we  see  that 
this  principle  of  Local  Sovereignty 
passed  through  its  colonial  stage  of 
development  not  merely  as  a  political 
doctrine,  but  as  a  great  social  and 
moral  fact.  Every  house  that  was 
built,  every  plantation  opened,  every 
article  introduced  into  trade,  every 
religious  interest,  assisted  in  itt»  growth 
and  maturity,  so  that  it  entered  into 
social  order,  and  demons trated  itself 
as  a  law  of  civilized  humanity  before 
it  became  a  necessary  political  prin- 
ciple. "^ 

Its  incipient  stage  of  existence  com- 
pleted. Local  Sovereignty  expanded 
into  State  Sovereignty.  Speaking  of 
colonies,  Mc 'Bulloch  remarks  that,  "if 
we  except  the  restraints  on  their  com- 
merce, the  monopoly  of  which  was 
jealously  guarded  by  the  mother  coun- 
try, the  inhabitants  of  Virginia,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  New  England  ei)j"yed 
nearly  the  same  degree  of  freedom, 
when  colonists  of  England,  that  they 
now  enjoy  as  citizens  of  the  powerful 
republic  of  the  United  States."  But 
these  restraints  were  removed  and 
State  Sovereignty  perfected.  After- 
wards it  formed,  or  rather  undertook  to 
form,  a  "more  perfect  Unions  Rigid 
restraints  were  imposed  on  that  ''more 


6 


AJ)t)ftES8  To  THE  PEoPtE. 


perfect  Vnion;^'  checks  and  balances 
provided  ;  a  JSca ate  of  State  Severe ig'n- 
ties  orj^anizcd  ;  but  despite  of  all,  the 
one  distinctive,  paramount,  providen- 
tial idea  of  American  thoup^ht  and  pro- 
gress was  near  being^  crushed  by  de- 
parting from  the  type  of  European 
civilization,  vi:^  :  Local  Covcreignt]!  and 
Balance  of  Paicer ;  and,  in  its  stead, 
adopting  the  type  of  Asiatic  civil iza- 
tioii,  viz  :  ^tofiiiitude  of  Empire,  an:l 
Consolit/atiun  <>/  Fuxoer.  But  the  slow 
process  i»f  a  return  to  original  ami 
philosophical  principles  soon  com- 
menced. First  came  the  "Missouri 
Compromise,"  laying  a  solid  bar,  stron- 
ger than  iron,  between  the  two  con- 
tending sections  with  their  inherited  co- 
lonial peeuliarities,  and  engraving  on  it, 
that  the  United  States  were  two  peo- 
ples, moving  in  diverging  directions. 
Then  came  "Internal  Improveau'nts," 
widening  yet  more  the  breach.  Tiien 
followed  the  destruction  of  the  United 
Staces  Bank,  a  most  vital  step  in  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  separation  of 
the  States.  And  thus,  by  degrees,  the 
wo;k  of  disintegration  went  on.  Sec- 
tional iiuiustr}'  perfected  itself.  Sec- 
tional censciences,  in  morals  and  reli- 
gion, were  formed.  Roused  to  his  ut- 
most fury,  the  Puritan  determined  to 
develop  tiie  perfect  ideal  of  himself, 
and  einliuilyit  in  flesh  and  blood.  That 
uchievenicnt  had  never  before  been 
attempted.  I'uritanism  had  presented 
numerous  foi'ms  of  character.  Webster 
and  Adams  were  thoroughly  unlike. 
Choate  and  Hale  wert*  ftjreigners  to 
each  other.  Yale  and  Harvard  were 
separated  by  one  abyss.  But  the  true 
type  of  character  at  last  emerged  be- 
fore th«  world.  It  incarnated  itself  in 
John  Brown.  Not  qwite  content  with 
him,  it  reproduced  itself  in  President 
Lincoln.  A  "more  per/ect  Union'^  had 
now  culminated  in  Abraham  Lincoln. 
The  work  was  done  ;  North  and  South 
parted. 


PROVIDENTIAL    LAWS. 

Every  nation  is  a  scheme  of  Provi- 
dence to  its  own  people.  The  immedi- 
ate end  of  this  scheme  is  to  feed,  clothe, 


shelter  and  promote  the  well  being  of 
its  subjects,  not  by  undertaking  the 
(tfficea  of  a  paternal  government,  nor 
by  artificial  legislation  in  behalf  of 
trade,  but  by  respecting  Providential 
Laws,  as  ordained  iji  soil,  climate  and 
physical  relations,  and  leaving  indus- 
try ajid  commerce  to  their  own  in- 
stincts. Whenever  this  end  is  consul- 
ted in  the  policy  of  a  nation,  the  end 
itself  beconjes  a  means  to  another  and 
wider  end,  the  temporal  welfare  of 
mankind.  Agreeably  to  this  law,  na- 
tions 'AVfi  local  systems  of  Provid<!nce, 
subordinate  to  that  economy  of  Provi- 
dence which  embraces  the  world  and 
its  inhabitants. 

Statesmanship  is  the  interpreter  of 
these  Proviiiential  Laws.  It  is  the 
organ  through  which  Providence  makes 
known  its  will.  Not  unfrequeutly  it 
falls  far  short  of  its  divine  purpose, 
substituting  its  factitious  plans  for  the 
indications  of  a  higher  wisdom,  perver- 
ting the  freedom  of  nature  by  narrow 
restrictions,  exhausting  its  affluence  to 
feed  the  exchequer  of  sordidness,  and 
thus  degrading  its  high  office  into  a 
selfii^h  art.  But  its  ideal  is  that  of  a 
Providential  Ministry  which  executes, 
without  fear  or  distrust,  those  cardinal 
laws  that  God  himself  has  ordained. 
Tliese  laws  it  cannot  make  nor  unmake. 
Its  sole  utility  consists  in  administer- 
ing them,  subject  to  those  considera- 
tions of  expediency  which  respect  time 
and  circumstance  in  all  legislative 
measures.  Political  economj'  is  noth- 
ing more  thaii  a  codification  of  these 
laws — a  science  that  teaches  what 
Providence  means  in  the  facts  of  soil, 
climate  and  products  ;  in  the  divisions 
of  the  globe  as  apartments  of  one  vast 
mansion  for  the  occupancy  of  different 
nations  ;  in  the  organization  of  difler- 
eiit  forms  of  industry  as  related  to 
their  own  ends  and  co-related  to  one 
another. 

A  thoughtful  mind,  contemplating 
these  laws,  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed 
by  their  extent,  variety  and  soveieign 
sway.  Over  all  things,  they  are  en- 
throned as  supreme  forces,  lo  which, 
the  pride  of  intellect,  the  exclusiveness 
of  national   vanity,  the   sensuality  of 


PROVIDENTIAL   LAWS. 


selfish  commerce,  must  submit.  Be-  ' 
neficent  beyond  computation,  these  i 
myriad  forces,  near  and  remote,  palpa- 
ble and  subtle,  copious  and  restricted, 
are  everywhere  working  with  serene, 
omnipotent  energy  to  improve  the  earth 
as  man's  habitation,  and  to  improve 
man  himself  for  closer  compan'onship 
with  God.  No  miracles  are  here.  But 
the  miracle  is,  that  society  can  be 
sustained  without  the  direct  interven- 
tion of  Jehovah.  A  daily  table  is 
spread  around  the  .globe  ;  every  hour 
threads  are  spun  for  clothing  that 
would  reach  thousands  of  miles  ;  every 
year,  cotton  and  woolen  aild  another 
skin  to  the  human  body,  and  recipro- 
cate the  functions  of  animal  lif^;  the 
vast  volumes  of  heat  which  nature 
stored  up  ages  since  in  her  magazines 
are  liberated  ;  the  sunbeams  that  never 
shone  on  mort  il  eye,  but  silently  de- 
scended with  ancient  forests  into  their 
awaiting  receptacles,  are  set  free  from 
their  subterranean  confinement  and 
gladden  the  homes  of  millions  ;  iron, 
copper,  lead,  bring  back  eras  past  to 
enrich  the  present  age  ;  steam  multi- 
plies and  expands  human  power  till  it 
strikes  the  verge  of  omnipotence  ;  de- 
fects in  one  climate  are  compensated 
by  superabundant  advantages  in  an- 
other ;  Europe  finds  its  counterpart  in 
America,  and  America  its  complement 
in  Asia  ;  all  co-operating,  all  combi- 
ning, so  that  tlie  race  as  one  vast  hu- 
man being  may  be  fed,  clothed,  warm- 
ed, sheltered,  trained,  educated,  civil- 
ized, chrietianized. 

But,  furthermore,  these  Providential 
Laws  are  as  solemn  as  sublime,  as 
stern  ae  truthful.  Merciful  when  obey- 
ed, jnelding  their  munificent  blessings 
on  easy  terms,  they  are  agencies  of 
wrath  and  wretchedness,  if  nations  set 
themselves  in  array  against  them.  Pen- 
alties, sure  and  certain,  hedge  them  all 
around  and  no  profane  feet  may  tram- 
ple upon  them.  They  tolerate  no  com- 
promises. They  forgive  no  infractions. 
They  accept  no  atonements.  If  na- 
tions violate  these  laws,  tliey  incur  the 
anger  of  Providence,  and  are  either 
doomed  to  ruin  or  punished  until  theij 
learn  wisdom. 


Viewed  in  the  light  of  these  truths 
j'our  position,  fellow-countrymen,  is  a 
stewardship  of  immeasurable  responsi- 
bility. It  is  a  stewardship  of  political 
doctrines  which,  bequeathed  by  the 
past,  lays  the  sanctity  of  venerable 
3'ears  upon  your  hearts.  In  these  doc- 
trines you  profess  the  sovereignty  of 
man  as  man,  and  the  essential  brother- 
hood of  the  human  family.  Aside  from 
this  fact,  you  have  a  stewardship  of 
industry  and  trade  which  unite  you  to 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  great  str. 
pie  which  you  pro«luce,  is  one  of  the 
w.  iide-rs  of  m<jdern  labor,  and  it  has 
do:ie  more  to  revolutionize  the  rela- 
tions of  labor  and  capital,  to  establish 
new  and  snlutary  connections  between 
agriculture  and  commerce  than  any 
other  single  agency  in  our  age.  Nor 
is  this  all.  To  give  full  efficiency  to 
your  political  principles  ;  to  put  your 
cherished  creed  of  Republicanisfn  in 
completer  practice  ;  to  command  your 
own  energies  so  long  cramped  and 
confined  ;  to  elevate  your  industry  by 
fraternizing  more  freely  with  mankind; 
you  wisely  separated  fronj  that  scheme 
of  Union  which  your  statesmanship 
had  illustrated,  your  valor  ennobled, 
your  patriotism  hallowed.  By  this  act 
you  did  not  rebel  against  the  United 
States.  Sovereignty  is  incapable  of 
rebellion.  Subjects  rebel  ;  sovereigns 
never.  But,  nevertheless,  it  was  an 
act  of  momentous  significance,  and, 
hear  me  when  I  tell  yot  that  in  this 
measure,  you  consecrated  yourselves, 
fellow-countrymen,  to  the  sublime  wortc 
which  Providence  had  committed  to 
your  hands.  The  midnight  sacrament 
of  blood  witnesses  the  presence  of 
Jehovah  in  your  midst,  and,  hour  by 
hour,  as  He  distributes  amid  your 
thinning  ranks,  the  solemn  emblems 
that  symbolize  your  faith  and  rever- 
ence and  love,  you  are  called  to  con- 
front those  holy  vows,  which,  in  dis- 
rupting a  magnificent  empire,  and  as- 
suming an  attitude  of  lofty  independ- 
ence, brought  j^ou  into  nearer  alliance 
with  Providence,  and  dedicated  you 
anew  to  liberty  and  humanity.  The 
sad  ritual  still  proceeds  ;  the  search- 
ing inquisition   into  the  character  of 


ADBRXSa   TO   THB  PEOPLE. 


elect  disciplesbip  yet  continaea  : 
an  1  the  deepeninjif  gloom  shuts  ua  more 
closely,  in  iiiiwhispered  awe,  within 
the  shadows  of  tho  iu6nite.  But^very 
sacrament  Lasita  .Iiid.i&.  Nut,  perhaps, 
s\  Judas  in  flesh  and  blood,  a  cynic  to 
scMw!  upon  the  scntimt-nt  that  breaks 
it)j  box  of  precious  ointment,  a  traitor 
to  sell .  his  Ciirist  for  thirty  piecet*  of 
silver.  The  open,  deliberate,  avari- 
cious Judas  is  unt  tho  m-m  to  be 
feared.  But  the  in.sidlou8  Judas  that 
Rtoalthily  treads  hi.s  way  into  all  nur 
hearts  when  l.^ist  suspected — tho  un- 
conscious Jndas  that  strips  a  cause  of 
its  hii^h  sacredness,  and  sensualizes  it 
to  nuworthy  ends — the  Judas  that 
looks  upon  a  praiid  revolution  in  the 
sordid  aspect  of  dollars  and  cents,  and 
is  bl'nd  to  its  divinest  aims /^  tliis  is 
the  Jndas  that  every  great  Providen- 
tial movement  has  to  dread.  Never 
%vas  there  a  revolution  that,  at  some 
staire  of  its  progress,  was  not  perver- 
ted ;  and,  let  me  impress  upon  you 
that  it  is  by  resisting  these  tendencies 
to  abuse,  far  more  than  by  their  origi- 
nal energy,  that  revolutions  achieve 
their  most  enduring  results. 

Our  withdrawal  from  the  Unicm  was 
the  effect  of  Providential  causes  that 
no  human  agency  was  competent  to 
resist.  Sagacity  (.'xpected  it.  Sagacity 
did  its  utmost  to  prevent  it.  Sagacity 
warned,  pleaded,  remons*^rated,  com- 
promised, preached,  prayed,  fasted, 
wept,  to  arrest  the  event.  It  uttered 
its  majestic  voice  in  the  farewell  ad- 
dress of  Washington.  It  repeated  its 
tones  of  pathos  in  the  language  of 
Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun.  Clianning, 
Thornwell,  Bn-ckinridge,  Adams,  Hop- 
kins, Fuller,  Pierce,  leading  divines  in 
their  respective  churches,  foresaw  the 
danger,  and  interceded  to  avert  it. 
Never  were  so  many  arts  of  states- 
manship, logic,  interest,  employed  for 
any  end  as  the  perj)etuation  of  the 
Union.  But  the  course  of  events  rolled 
on  ;  every  year  the  tide  grew  fuller, 
broader,  darker  ;  every  j'ear  added 
fresli  tributaries  to  its  sweeping,  surg- 
ing, swollen  momentum  ;  until  at  last 
all  barriers  gave  way,  all  boundaries 
yielded,  and  the    highest    .A.lps    went 


down  beneath  the  victorious  deluge. 
It  was  a  Pnjvidential  decree.  None 
could  withstand  it.  Provideuco  gave 
us  t!air  w^arning  that  it  would  come. 
Few  heeded  tiio  warning.  A  magnifi- 
cent empire,  stretching  from  Atlantic 
Ui  Pacitic,  and  covering  the  length  ot 
the  continent  ;  an  empire  that  should 
be  a  world  in  itself,  and  still  more,  a 
world  by  itself ;  an  empire  that  should 
multiply  the  original  diversities  of  soil, 
climate,  productiim«,  and  intensify  the 
essential  dissimilarjty  between  races, 
temperaments  and  local  institutions, 
while  it  reconciled  all  inherent  antago- 
nisms ;  such  an  empire  was  the  dream 
of  our  statesmanship.  But  our  states- 
manship forgot  that  the  laws  of  civili- 
zation are  stronger  than  the  laws  of 
Government.  The  former  dictate  the 
policy  of  the  latter  ;  the  former  are 
elemental  forces,  the  latter  executive 
powers  ;  the  one  proceeds  from  God, 
the  other  from  men  ;  the  one  like  God 
are  mighty  and  eternal,  the  other  like 
men,  short-lived  and  transient.  Such 
a  dream  was  in  conllict  with  all  the 
historic  and  traditi<;nal  wisdom  of  the 
past.  No  logic  of  principles,  no  analy- 
sis of  the  philosophy  of  Government, 
no  parallelisms  of  facts,  none  of  the  in- 
stinctive tendencies  of  industry  and 
commerce,  none  of  the  international 
relations  of  the  Western  hemisplierc 
could  have  inspired  such  a  dream. 
Could  this  dream  bave  been  realized, 
it  would  have  been  realized  by  the  de- 
velopment of  a  homogeneonsness  that 
would  have  proved  fatal  to  all  freedom 
of  growth,  catholicity  of  sentiment  and 
fraternity  of  industry,  politics,  society, 
religion. 

But  this  ideality  of  empire  was  a 
splendid  conception,  and,  like  all  great 
•ideals,  had  most  beneficent  uses.  It 
held  us  together  until  the  fulness  of 
time  had  come,  and  the  principle  of 
local  sovereignty,  sxibjeoted  to  long 
and  instructive  discipline,  had  been 
fitted  to  enter  xipon  its  work  of  rear- 
ing a  series  of  nationalities  that  should 
embody  the  diversified  civilizations  of 


PROVIDENTIAL  LAWS. 


the  coDtiBent.  The  diversities  had 
uecessarily  to  assume  shape,  distiuct- 
ne68  and  vij^or,  before  the  process  of 
disiutegration  coulc^ safely  corumence. 
A  premature  governn^ent,  assuming  to 
put  itself  iu  tbe  van  of  civilization, 
is  always  a  miscarriage.  The  womb 
of  time  has  its  fixed  periods  of  gesta- 
tion, and  men  cannot  hurry  them.  Hap- 
pily for  the  welfare  of  the  hemisphere, 
the  act  of  separation  was  delayed  until 
the  whole  question  of  secession  had 
passed  from  the  uncertain  ground  of 
arguments  to  the  solid  ground  of  pal- 
pable facts.  If  we  had  left  the  Union 
on  a  logical  deduction,  on  a  govern- 
mental theory,  on  a  prospective  hypo- 
thesis, there  would  have  been  room  to 
fear  that  the  conclusions  might  not 
sustain  the  premises.  Logic  is  the 
worst  of  revolutionizers.  Heaven  never 
entrusts  a  great  cause  to  processes  of 
reasoning.  Facts  are  the  only  author- 
ized reformers.  Luther',  Hampden, 
Cromwell,  Washington,  Napoleon,  are 
fimply  otiier  names  for  facts. 

The  wisdom  of  Providence  in  post- 
poning this  separation  until  certain 
interests  in  the  Union  had  divided  and 
made  the  experiment  of  sectional  inde- 
pendence is  a  striking  point  in  the 
history  of  this  struggle.  The  prepara- 
tory trial  of  the  safety,  utility  and  pro- 
priety of  disintegration  was  ordained 
of  God,  so  that  in  the  clear  light  of  its 
results,  we  might  advance  to  our  po- 
litical future  witliout  apprehensions. 
Several  illustrations  are  at  command, 
but  we  select  only  one,  which,  from  the 
magnitude  of  the  issues  involved,  will 
place  the  argument  "fully  before  the 
reader.  We  allude  to  the  division  in 
the  Baptist  and  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churches.  In  the  case  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  it  was  a  rupture  of  general 
relations  which  existed  for  benevolent 
objects  in  the  form  of  convention.  In 
the  case  of  the  M.  E.  Church  it  was 
a  rupture  in  the-  highest  legislative 
body  of  the  Church,  aud  hence  was  or- 
ganic. Tlie  separation  proved  of  in- 
calculable benefit  to  both  these  parties. 
The  increase  of  their  membership  ;  the 
quickening  impulse  given  to  publish- 
ing interests,  to  education,  to  mission-  i 


ary  work  ;  the  augmentation  of  mone- 
tary receipts  f:jr  benevolent  objects  j 
opened  a  new  and  wonderful  era  iu 
their  operations.  The  divine  blessing 
followed  the  separation  ;  and  thus  the 
finger  of  Providence,  pointing  to  that 
result,  showed  us  the  futurity  which 
political  separation  would  secure. 

Looking,  then,  at  the  Unioii  as  an 
initial  system  for  the  organization  of 
American  society,  it  was  most  admira- 
bly adapted  to  accomplish  its  end.  It 
created  a  safeguard  for  liberty.  It 
checked  the  tendencies  to  excessive 
individualism,  aud  generated  a  specific 
style  of  character,  which,  however 
rude  and  gross  in  certain  aspects,  yet 
all'orded  the  energetic  materials  for  a 
subsequent  process  of  refinement.  Im- 
pulse and  imaginative  activity  are 
essential  to  the  first  stages  of  national 
life  ;  but,  as  we  had  no  feudiilism,  no 
chivalry,  no  crusades,  no  El  Doradoes, 
to  furnish  tiiis  pabulum  of  lusty  growth 
and  exuberant  vigor,  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  grand  empire,  holding  half  a  hem- 
isphere  in  its  grasp,  supplied  the  need- 
ed nectar  to  this  modern  Jupiter.  Its 
work  perfected,  its  vulcanic  muscle 
embodied  in  iron,  its  finer  ideals  sculp- 
tured in  marule,  the  great  Union 
passed  away  But,  in  no  sense  was  it 
a  failure.  It  did  precisely  and  com- 
pletely all  it  was  designed  to  do.  It 
lived  its  three-score  and  ten,  and  then 
expired  by  the  divine  statute  of  limita- 
tion. Had  it  attained  ''four-ncore  yars" 
its  "strength"  would  have  been  "labor 
and  sorrow."  And  hence,  when  it  ter- 
minated its  existence,  it  had  prepared 
the  way  for  a  more  noble  and  perma- 
nent economy  of  political  society.  Un- 
consciously to  itself,  through  all  the 
periods  of  its  wonderful  existence,  in 
all  its  phases  of  fortune,  in  its  acquisi- 
tions of  territory,  in  its  internal  eou- 
tiicts,  in  its  triumphs,  in  its  dekats,  i,t 
had  been  slowly  but  steadily  working 
out  for  the  North,  for  the  Soutii,  for 
Indiana,  for  Texas,  for  California,  a 
.simpler  and  dronger  principle  of  Ajneri- 
can  government  and  civilization.  We 
say,  unconsciously.  The  sublimest 
workers  are  always  unconscious  of 
their  work.     If  they  knew  what  they 


10 


ADDRESS  TO   THE   PEOPLE. 


jjid,  lo^Jc  would  enervate  inspiration 
while  gfodlike  energies  would  expire 
in  mortal  imbecility. 


E  PIXRIBUS  VVVK. 

One  of  the  necessary  effoots  of  the 
Federal  Union  was  to  afford  tin'  respec- 
tive States  a  full  opportunity  for  self- 
development.  If  tiie  coranicu  trust- 
agent  superintended  their  foreign 
affairs,  and  performed  other  offices  of 
general  utility,  it  must  be  obvious  that 
under  such  a  system,  local  sovereignty 
would  have  ample  room  to  expand  in 
the  sphi^re,  reserved  to  its  own  activi- 
ty. Union,  therefore,  was  the  logical 
antecedent  to  Disunion.  Bu*  no  sane 
man  can  regard  disunion  as  an  end  in 
itself  Therefore,  we  urge  that  Disun- 
ion is  the  antecf'den*  to  Lmity.  Unity 
is  essentially  different  from  union 
The  one  is  inward  ;  the  other  outward. 
The  former  springs  from  con)mon  sen 
timents  and  aims  ;  the  latter  from 
common  relations  to  the  same  objects. 
The  one  rests  on  the  sympathy  which 
flows  from  individuality  ;  the  other 
from  society.  Unity  is  consistent  with 
the  largest  diversity  ;  Union  inconsis- 
tent. Unity  adjusts  and  recoi  ciles 
dissimiUir  elements;  union  antagonizes 
them.  Unity  is  the  principle  of  vital 
association  ;  union  is  the  law  of  formal 
connection.  If  this  analysis  is  correct 
it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  the  disrup- 
tion ot  the  American  Union  was  an 
important  step  in  the  advancing  march 
of  Western  civilization.  Their  term  of 
childhood  ended,  their  age  of  manhood 
dawning,  the  States  have  commenced 
the  vast  work  of  distributing  them- 
selves into  empires,  according  to  geo- 
graphical position,  industrial  affinities, 
and  social  identity.  Had  there  been 
no  Missouri  Compromise,  no  Texas 
annexation,  no  Kansas  Bill,  no  John 
Brown,  no  President  Lincoln,  this  pro- 
cess of  dismemberment  C(juld  not  have 
been  long  deferred.  Nor  can  any  hu- 
man power  arrest  its  progress.  Noth- 
ing but  an  intellectual  blindness, 
amounting  to  idiotcy,  would  undertake 
to  arrest  this  outworking  of  inherent 
and  instinctive  destiny.     A  single  oak 


matures  its  acorns  by  the  same  laws 
that  it  matures  itself,  then  scatters 
them  over  the  earth,  and,  in  following 
years  sees  a  contiAient  of  oaks,  like  it 
in  prolific  vitality  ;  like  it  in  majentic 
si/e,  its  welcome  coiiip'uiions,  its  genial 
fellows,  its  proud  descendants.  Such 
an  oak  was  the  American  Union,  and 
such  a  destiny  is  reserved  for  its  ap- 
proaching years. 

"K  PiARiBCs  Unum"  must  now  be 
re-written.  It  is  no  more  "One  of 
Many,"  but  "Many  of  One.'*  The  ^ame 
causes  that  made  the  South  outgrow 
the  limitations  of  the  Union  ;  the  same 
imperative  discipline  of  sectional  cir- 
cumstances ;  the  same  awakening  of 
intellect  and  energy,  are  at  work,  and 
cannot  be  repressed.  Like  continental 
forces  that  upheave  a  world  from  the 
deep,  they  will  exert  their  might  and 
crush  all  resistance.  Whoever  plants 
a  hostile  front  in  their  way,  arrays 
himself  against  the  onward  march  of 
civilization.  Whoever  grapples  with 
them  grapples  with  Almighty  God. 
"Many  of  One?'  is  the  inaugural  of 
the  new  dispensation.  Federalism  on 
a  vast  scale  is  an  obsolete  thing.  In- 
congruous with  the  spirit  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  adverse  to  the  law  of 
progress,  the  creed  of  au  expired  con- 
servatism, it  cannot  interpose  its  puny 
power  in  the  conflict  which  to-day 
wages  with  y(vsterday  in  behalf  of  to- 
morrow. Suppose  that  Federalism 
obliterate  all  State  lines.  Can  it  ob- 
literate the  stubborn  facts  that  State 
lines  represent  ?  Can  it  crush  the  wild 
energy  of  the  Northwest  ?  Can  it  turn 
the  face  of  California  from  Asia  ?  In- 
stincts are  sovereign.  Men  will  obey 
them  just  as  the  globe  obeys  gravita- 
tion. 

But  in  'this  distribution  of  political 
power  under  new  and  varied  nationali- 
ties, or  under  confederacies,  a  princi- 
ple of  pacification  and  prosperity  must 
be  found.  Such  a  prin'^-iple,  acknowl- 
edging the  rights  of  each  party  as 
distinct  and  independent,  must  present 
a  common  ground  on  which  all  can 
meet.  And  this  common  ground  is  the 
free  interchange  of  their  industrial 
'  products.      Any    restrictions    on    the 


E    PLURIBUS    UNUM. 


11 


trade  of  this  continent  will  be  down- 
rififht  political  madness.  The  unity  of 
the  continent,  of  its  respective  sections 
of  its  complementary  interests,  are 
stern  facta  which  nature  has  settled 
once  and  forever.  Bear  in  mind,  that 
the  labor  and  capital  of  this  country 
are  already  organized  \ji  accommoda- 
tion to  the  laws  of  physical  jreoij^raphy 
and  the  demands  of  est^iblished  mar- 
kets. And,  moreover,  remember  that 
all  political  legislation,  if  it  have  any 
claim  to  statesmanship  must  conform 
to  facts  and  circumstances  as  thej' 
exist.  All  such  facts  and  circumstan- 
ces are  the  indices  of  Providence, 
pointing  out  the  course  for  statesman 
skip  to  follow.  Looking  at  this  North 
American  continent,  its  peculiar  con- 
tour, its  simplicity  of  form,  its  remark- 
able inter-relation  of  parts,  its  diversi- 
ties as  tributary  to  unity,  its  capacity 
for  localization  and  its  massive  com- 
pleteness, any  stat<?sraan  must  be 
singularly  blind  who  would  advocate 
any  other  scheme  of  trade  than  one 
based  on  perfect  reciprocity  of  inters 
est,  and  the  most  liberal  interpretation 
of  the  claims  of  mutual  brotherhood. 

Diversity  and  unity  are  the  two 
pillars  of  all  continental  civilization. 
You  have  divorced  diversity  and  union, 
and  high  Ilcaveu  is  ratifying  the  act 
as  final  by  sealing  it  with  blood.  The 
great  problem  now  is  to  adjust  the 
claims  <if  diversity  and  unity.  I  repeat 
it  to  you,  these  are  the  pillars  of 
continental  civilization.  Without  them 
Europe  would  not  be  Europe.  With 
them,  America  can  be  America,  a  far 
wiser,  better,  more  peaceful  and  pros- 
perous America  than  ever  before.  The 
principle  which  I  advocate  lies  back  of 
all  governmental  policy  ;  nor  indeed 
can  governments  be  considered  other 
than  empirical  if  they  neglect  to  con- 
sult its  supreme  obligations.  It  is  a 
principle  of  catholicity,  of  strength, 
security  and  peace.  It  has  cost  the 
world  more  treasure,  more  wretched- 
ness, more  blood,  in  reaching  its 
present  degree  of  development,  than 
any  other  doctrine  of  governmental 
science  ;  and  now  that  the  new  era  of 
the   Western   Hemisphere,  struggling 


in  the  throes  of  its  birth,  is  about  to 
offer  you  this  principle  of  conciliation 
and  fraternity,  let  me  warn  you  that  it 
only  can  give  a  determinate  shape  to 
the  prospective  and  conjoint  civiliza- 
tion of  our  continent. 

Standing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
let  us  survey  the  far-reaching  land- 
scape, which  is  now  occupied  by  the 
United  States  and  the  Confederate 
States.  The  mountain  chain,  running 
nearly  through  its  length,  and  shaping 
itself  so  as  to  repeat  the  coast  line  of 
the  Atlantic,  'eaves  the  country  open 
from  North  to  South.  Like  a  huge 
back^bone,  it  braces  the  ribs  of  nume- 
rous States,  through  which  it  passes. 
All  along  its  slopes  it  contains  metalic 
and  mineral  treasures,  which  are  sus- 
ceptible of  easy  distribution.  Placed 
between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Missis- 
,sippi,  it  extends  its  advantages  v-ith 
equal  liberality  to  the  industry  and 
trade  which  border  the  ocean  or  follow 
the  great  river.  Our  first  line  of 
colonization  was  the  Atlantic  coast  ; 
our  second,  the  Mississippi,  each  foK 
lowing  the  same  continental  direction 
and  branching  to  these  mountains  as 
their  common  junction.  In  Asia  the 
mountain  ranges  insulate  one  people 
from  another.  China  and  India  are 
rendered  foreigners  to  each  other  by 
one  of  those  immense  ridges  which 
separate  sections  of  the  East  by  im- 
passable barriers.  But  on  this  hemis- 
phere, an  opposite  law  prevails.  The 
mountains  unite  and  bind  together  the 
physical  and  industrial  interests  which 
belong  to  the  Eastern  and  Western 
divisions,  while  they  sufficiently  dit-er- 
sify  them  for  reciprocal  benefit.  But 
while  the  Atlantic  slopes,  and  the 
West  are  thus  intimately  connected. 
North  and  South  are  made  likewise 
dependent.  The  vast  region  drained 
by  the  Mississippi  is  perfectly  co- 
related  in  all  its  parts,  nor  does  the 
world  present  as  striking  an  instance 
of  divereity  as  the  condition  of  unity. 

Wiioever  will  look  at   this   subject 
calmly  and  carefully  will  discover  three 
facts    of  great  importance      The  first  . 
is  the  occupancy  of  the  entire  Atlantic 
line  as  the  base  of  our  original  civili- 


\% 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   PfiOPLE. 


/.ation,  and  the   inseparable  connection  i 
tlius  cRtablisheJ  belweeu  the  industry  i 
of  all  ltd  sections.     The  second  is  the 
repetition  of  this  Northein  and  South'* 
era  couaectiou  on    the  Mississippi  and  : 
its  tributaries.     The  third  is  the  lines  ! 
of  trade  extending  from  the  Mississippi  , 
Valley  to  the  Atlantic  coast.    Whether,  ; 
then,  wo  trac»i  the  arteries  of  civilizas  I 
tion  in   the  direction    of    latitude    or  , 
longitude,  the  same  fact  meets  us,  viz: 
Unity. 

Certain  it  is,  inflexibly  and  inexora- 
bly certain,  that  some  substitute  must 
be  had  for  the  Federal  schomo  of 
Union.  Tiie  proces!-;  of  dismember>nent 
must  continue  until  the  constilueut 
parts  of  tlie  United  States,  liberated 
from  the  destructive  agencies  which 
Mr.  Linc'dn,  not  our  secession,  has 
developed  among  thum,  shall  be  driven, 
as  a  measure,  of  self-protection,  to 
organize  tiiemselves  either  in  national.' 
ities  or  in  confederacies.  Whether  we 
contemplate  Federalism  in  its  capacity 
during  peace  for  unjust  legitslatiou, 
corrupt  patronage,  and  the  terrible 
sway  of  numerical  mujorities,  or  in  its 
capacity  duriny  war  for  coi-solidation, 
tyranny  and  brutality,  our  miuds  can- 
not evade,  cannot  suspend,  cannot 
even  palliate  the  conchisic^n  that  it  is 
irreconcileable  with  local  liberty  and 
local  institutions,  whenever  they  ex* 
pand  themselves  over  a  broad  and 
diversified  surface.  The  practical  re'^ 
alization  of  this  truth  is  only  a  matter 
of  time.  But,  meanwhile,  all  sections 
of  the  country  ought  to  see  that  a  plan 
of  contitioutal  unity,  such  as  shall 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  each 
nationality  or  confederacy,  and  secure 
the  free  intercommunity  of  trade  and 
commerce,  will  give  the  beneflts  with- 
out the  evils  of  union.  Passion  and 
prejudice  may  obscure  for  tlie  present 
tliis  truth,  but  its  final  triumph  depends 
no  more  than  the  revolution  of  the 
globe  OQ  any  human  contingencies. 


PBIXCU'X-KS   AND   POLICY. 

Whpf.evsr  a.  revolutionary  movement  propo- 
ses to  ctiang  •  tb«  instituiioo-  of  a  coiniunniiy, 
itB  i  Iwas  ar.d  nn-asurfis  are  amenable,  no  less 
tbau  ius  means  and  instrameuU^,  to  those  laws 


which  are  organic  in  the  schemi  of  Providence 
as  applied  U\  human  socI^ty.  Ours  i»  uot, 
-•■■■-•'•  r ':»k'n>:.  a  revfilutixn.  No  element 
(lifiiurbiDtr  e.vi<ted  in  the  act  of 
li  Irum  tbe  L'nioa.  L  ke  a  partner 
reiiriug  trum  a  meicantile  firm,  whose  business 
.still  continue'^,  we  simply  re.sumed  our  origiual 
sovereignty,  leaving  tbe  United  Stales  to  main- 
tain tbe  cfiices  ut  governmeni  wiibin  lis  own 
limits,  and  agreeably  to  it«  apt  c<iic  functioua 
Tlio  revolutionary  stuiinient  whicb  has  to  vi- 
tally affecftd  the  prop-ess  of  thi.<  movprn>-nt.  ori- 
ginated with  oar  ^nem)ep,  who.  in  their  mrange 
hallucination!^,  made  seceseion  the  occasion  tor 
revolution.  Tukwn  in  all  its  conaec  ions  pre- 
seut  and  prospective  -  thid  lact  is  a  political 
anomaly  thai,  no  8taU"'inan'cau  explain  on  any 
ucceptt'd  piinciple  of  human  government.  Dm 
t hilt  aside.  The  great  fact' with  which  we  are 
dealing  is,  (hat  we  have  asseited  our  iudepeod- 
eiice.  By  this  acv  we  severed  our  reiatioua  to 
a  political  sys'Pm  which  hud  proved  adverse 
to  our  best  iiiierests.  By  this  act  we,  present- 
ed ourselves  before  the  world  as  a  candidate 
for  admitisiun  into  the  family  ot  nationi:.  B7 
this  act  we  pie  Iged  onrselvea  to  tbe  wel:ar"  of 
mankind,  bringing  our  distinctive  ideas.  indiiS:- 
try.  resourcep.  usages  tuid  iustitnt'ons  into  tbe 
common  Ptock  of  hiimaniiy.  By  this  act  we 
declared  that  whatever  wi*.-  local  should  uot  be 
exag;ierated  iatu  an  inteinalional  injury  ;  that 
whatever  was  peculiar  to  us  as  a  peii|de  should 
work  no  serious  detriment-  to  the  oiher  braiich- 
e-*.  of  the  World's  vast  household  ;  and  that 
while  we  employed  out  own  agencies  in  the 
deveUpm^-ni  of  our  resources,  and  held  our 
own  convictions  without  any  control  but  tiuih 
and  any  res^trictiftus  iMit  a  moral  sense  of  expe 
diency,  we  would  advanee  to  the  extent  of  our 
nbility,  the  peace  and  prospuuty  ol  all  peoul**. 
Let  us  see  how  tur  these  promise's,  made  i.i  our 
covenant  with  Providence,  and  procnimed. 
furthermore,  to  the  world,  have  been  redeemed.  . 
or  raiher.  how  lar  we  have  given  indicatious  of 
their  redem|Hio». 

Fellow-couinrymen,  the  hours  that  now  dar-  , 
ken  for  us  the  diaUplale  ol  time  with  their 
infinite  shadosTs  are  too  lull  of  sadness  and 
porrow  for  any  iiidulgeace  in  carping  criticism. 
Heartless .  must  th.il  mm  b  •■  who,  amid  tho 
sanctities  of  grief  now  resting  upou  our  dear 
land,  could  profane  the  te.-ideruesj  of  such  an 
occision  by  harsh  censures  and  sharp  de- 
uunciatioiia.  The  hallowing  breath  ot  God  is 
in  thai  Wail  of  mourning  whicii  cow  rises  over 
thousands  of  grav-'s.  and  from  homes  sadder 
th  in  t!fr;ives,  and  whicli  recites-,  in  the  litany  of 
breaking  hearts,  three  ye.irs  of  carnage  and 
anuuish.  Apart  from  this,  the  struggles  of  our 
great  and  go^d  men  in  the  offices  of  stiatesman- 
ship  their  lldelity  to  sacred  trusts— their  con- 
stancy o:  heroism  under  auperJiuraan  prej-juro, 
demand  an  u|»preciati()U  at  onr  bands,  th>it  no 
words  ot  mine  c:iu  tiily  expre.-^s.  Yet  truth  is 
consistent  with  kindness  and  cl-arity,  nor  is  it 
<  ver  so  tt-uihful  as  when  the  alT-'Ctious  of  the 
heart  strengthen,  and  sanctify  the  logical  de- 
ductions of  the  undeisianding.  No  man  of 
detective   sensibilities  can  ever    see  a  great 


PRINCIPLES   AND   POLICY. 


i; 


trnlh  in  it«  entire  scope";  and  hence,  if  we 
would  reach  juijt  and  abiding  conclusions,  we 
must  attain  tliem  quite  as  mucb  through  the 
emotions  as  ihroup;li  the  intellect. 

First,  let  me  say.  that  our  style  of  thitik'ng 
during  the  pendency  of  this  struggle  has-been 
too  low,  too  sordid,  too. sensual,  for  th«  graad 
iseueu  involved.  So  far  from  our  thoughts  and 
impulses  being  commen.surale  with  the  sublim- 
ity ot  our  pomiion  as  the  coaservaiors  of 
American  liberty,  ?iud  the  sUmdard  bearers  of 
a  new  and  mors  potent  civilization,  we  have 
been  content  to  consider  th»  stru  gle  as  a  mere 
coriHict  with  the  Federal  arras.  Foreretting  that 
high  conceptitns  of  our  mission  to  the  nations 
are  necessary  precursors  to  deed?  of  splendid 
valor,  forgetting  that  the  aebievini,'  brain  i.s  the 
herald  of  the  achieving  hand,  forg-tting  that  a 
people's  acts  never  exceed  the  measure  ot 
their  ideas  ;  still  more,  forgetting  that  I'rovi^ 
dence  siffniils  ii.s  Urst  pre.sence  .-^mong  a  com- 
munity by  the  sentiments  and  conesponding 
impulses  which  it  couimnnicates  ere  it  forms 
their  exploits  to  lofry  id-al.s  ;  forgetting  all 
these,  we  have  degraded  our  cause  by  regard- 
ing it  mainly  or  altogeiht-r  in  the  light  of  a 
resistance  to  the  avaricous  lust  and  ferocious 
hate  of  ourenenjit's.  I  would  not  have  you  to 
contemplate  it  chittiy  in  that  aspect,  ijuch  an 
aspect,  solema  beyond  description,  it  has  but 
not  that  onl , .  I  would  not  have  you  lower 
yourselves  by  ])laciug  your  manbond  in  con- 
trast with  the  fanatics  who  hunger  and  thirst 
lor  your  ruin. 

Nor  should  you  imagine  that  the  paramout 
issue  in  this  cot.fliti.  is  property.  That  is  an  isisuf 
but  not  the  greatesi.  The  real  qnestion  involv- 
ed is  your  maabood,  and  the  chieftainship  of 
that  manhood  in  piotecling  Americau  libt-rty. 
Oq  you  «nd  your  arms,  habg  the  destinies  of 
tuis  ccniinent,  and  no  inferior  aim  can  confer 
upon  your'achievements  that  resplendent  hfrs'c 
lit  wb'ch  they  are  entitled.  Property  nev^r 
made  a  graud  revolution.  It  never  umleriooi? 
one  that  it  did  not  sensualize  its  spirit,  and 
cnrse  lis  subjects.  Already  it  has  deb!uich(:d 
scores  of  our  brethren,  who  once  followed  the 
eagle  ia  his  flight,  but  now  attend  the  buzzard 
iq  his  search.  Step  by  step,  year  by  year, 
causes  beyond  bumun  control  have  been  stead- 
ily advancing  this  revolution  to  that  high 
ground  whion  it  was  destined  to  occupy.  Step 
by  step,  year  by  year,  all  secondary  elements 
have  been  more  or  less  eliminated  Irom  the  san- 
guinary debate,  until  at  las*  the  naked  alterna- 
tive ot  manhood  or  extermination  is  only  offer- 
ed. Believing  that  the  Federal  despotism  must 
trample  on  the  liberties  of  its  own  people  just 
in  the  sime  ratio  that  it  advances  on  ours,  I 
look  for  the  time  to  arrive  when  the  downcast 
and  downtrodden  of  the  United  States  will 
bail  you  as  their  benefactors  and  allies  in 
crushing  a  tyranny  that  is  hastening  to  its 
overthrow.  You  cannot  fight  this  battle  for 
yourself  alone.  Providence  shapes  the  issne 
for  itself.  Despite  of  our  immediate  purposes, 
(in  themselves  honorable  and  noble.)  its  ora- 
ni8ci*"nce  is  guiding  our  *8  eps  into  something 
grander  than  a  sectional  triumph.  Oure,  there- 


fore, is  a  sublime  attitude.  It  is  the  attitude  of 
men  who  should  be  raised  infinitely  ubove  all 
mercenary  considerations  ;  who  should  sink 
self  and  selQ-^hness  in  a  caus^  so  transcendent- 
ly  glorious  ;  and  who.  discharging  from  their 
minds  all  other  inipre^tiimis.  should  think  of 
nothing  but  fighting  or  T*5'ina-.  Conscious  of 
girding  on  the  sword  of  the  Almighty  lor  no 
ambitious  ends  :  claiming  nothing  but  what  his 
title  has  conveyed  as  your  inheritance  ;  your 
sacred  po.sition  is  at  the  side  of  that  Supreme 
Presence,  whence  you  m»y  survey  the  fearlul 
magnitude  of  that  ministry  which  has  been  con- 
fided to  your  hands.  You  are  not  merely 
Southern  heroes  but  American  heroes  ;  and  as 
in  the  olden  tim*^.  the  Ark  was  removed  from 
the  Tabernacle  into  the  temple,  so,  by  your 
agency,  if  laithfully  executed,  the  true  ark  of 
American  freedom  will  pass  from  the  tHinpor..- 
ry  tabernacle  which  it  occupird,  and  find  a 
pennanetu.  resting  place  in  that  temple  of 
which  you  are  called  to  be  the  fircbitecls. 

But  have,  we  this  spirit,  my.  countrymen  V 
Forgive  me  if  I  wrong  you.  Forgive  me  it  1 
fifcm  to  wrong  you.  But  it  would  seem  that; 
our  policy  ha•^  aimed  at  repeating  a  civilizHiIoU 
that  has  ended  its  Career  and  d"partpd,  r  iih-T 
than  initiating  a  new,  bn.ader,  bettev  svsiem. 
Vain,  absurdly  vain  is  it.  for  us  to  end'eavoi 
to  be  a  Southern  United  Slates.  We  cannot 
reproduce  xtinct  ideas.  Bui  we  must  devel- 
ope  sentiments  out  of  our  own  h!i:ti  instincts  — 
sentirapnfx  which  catching  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
and  reflecting  upon  the  world  the  true  mtf'uinff 
of  o\ir  wonderlul  position,  shall  be  wjffrcfisive 
'ipon  Ihe  mind  of  ihc  whole  American  peoph.  I 
'K>  not  mean,  aggressive  arms.  I  mean  ihat  we 
are  to  stand  IVir  that  political  philosophy  which 
is  dictated  by  the  peculiar  circuBistances  ot 
this  struggle,  and  enforced  as  great  truths 
never  were  upon  our  assent  and  acceptance, 
ixeconstruction  is  banished  from  the  arena  of 
discussion  »s  an  odious  thing.  Ir,  is  with  Bene- 
d  ct  Arnold  in  his  grave;  but  while  this  is  trn*>. 
I(H  us  not  forgHt  that  reproduction  is  next  akiu 
to  reconstruction.  We  want  no  Washington 
city  docfrines  or  dogmas.  We  want  men  who. 
like  Sir  Robert  Peel,  will  undo  what  bad  legis- 
lation had  previously  done.  A  thorough  re- 
form in  ideas  is  the  consumraation  to  ue  de- 
sired. Men  who  like  Ricardo  can  regenerate 
ideas— men  lik^  Andrew  Jackson,  who  can  re- 
store a  fact  to  the  place  wliere  it  Delongs— men 
who  can  put  the  Confederacy  abreast  with  the 
age  and  iLfliime  its  mighty  heart  with  the  im- 
p  -Ises  rushing  towards  its  (resh,  young  blood  — 
these  are  the  men  we  need  for  such  momen- 
tous times. 

Our  statesmanship  has  not  yet  expanded 
itself  to  the  measure  of  its  opportuuiues.  It 
has  not  raised  itself  to  the  "height  ot  this  great 
argument."  Again  and  again,  it  has  confessed 
its  surprise  at  the  magnitude  this  struggle  has 
assumed,  but  a  statesman,  like  a  general,  should 
never  be  surprised.  It  b«  lacks  sagacity  he 
lacks  the  sum  and  substance  of  statesmanship. 
Anybody  can  see  ;  to  foresee  is  statesmanship 
The  demagogue  is  the  ephemeral  insect  of  the 
hour  ;  the  politician  is  the  creature  of  the  pass 


14 


ADDEESS    TO   THE   PEOPLE. 


Inn  day ;  the  ptatwman  is  the  prepbet  of  the 
future.  Edmund  Buike  was  soch  a  prophet. 
So  were  Luiher  Mirtio.  Patrick  HeDry.  aod 
MbUKiu.  To  read  contingeooied.  as  common 
mind-  read  the  uniform  1 -ws  of  nature;  to 
combiDe  cii>ince«  with  the  regularity  of  e-iiat)- 
liebed  Bequences  ;*^  see  where  exceptional 
Bjteuci**8  lutersecl  the  lines  aloni;  wbich  ordi- 
nary eventu  travel ;  to  calculate  the  cleflectious 
of  tlie  compa?«,  and  pilot  the  ehip  ot  State 
accordingly  ;  this,  and  this  only,  is  true  siates- 
maOMhip.  But  the  scroll  of  'coming  events 
which  our  old  prophets  were  woal  to  rend  is 
uov»  a  modern  i,ewspaper.  Nor  is  this  strange. 
Our  fttHiesmen  ar«  not  to  blame  for  it,  because 
the  people  will  not  have  it  otherwise.  Seeing 
is  af»  much  a  mtnier  ot  the  atmosphere  as  of 
the  Bunshiie.  Our  American  polit'cal  almos- 
phi're  is  full  of  popular  exhiUations,  and  as 
togjfj  as  the  banks  of  Newrouodlaud.  If"  a 
great  light  emerge  above  the  common  horizon 
of  intellect,  the  dusty,  sooty  a^r  straijfhiway 
disputes  passage,  and  the  red  ray  oniy  reaches 
tb-^  earth.  The  people,  I  repeat,  are  to  blame 
for  it.  A  great  people  uevk-r  tail  to  produce 
great  statesmen.  A  vast  continent  must  have 
Vast  mountains,  and  by  a  paralellism  of  law,  a 
coble  comiaouwealth  embodies  its  intuitions, 
ymruiiig.s,  aspirations,  in  nobie  statesmen.  But 
we,  in  imitation  of  cheap  art,  mould  our  figures 
in  plaster  when  the  marble  invites  ihe  sculpiu- 
ring  chisel.  Our  method  of  torraing  sfate.smeii 
is  altogether  peculiar  to  ourselves.  We  inanu 
fac;il»e  tnem  too  often  out  of  politicians.  We 
call  the  manufactured  product  a  statesman. 
Doul-iiess,  a  rose  would  smell  as  sweet  if 
called  by  any  other  Uiime,  but  the  politician  is 
not  a  rose. 

One  ol  the  earliest  indications  ot  this  revola- 
t'OQ  was  that  it  would  insirumentally  eflfect  a 
Bubwlaniiil  change  in  iniHriiaiioual  law.  Again 
and  a(!;aMi,  the  gross  defeots  ii  that  high-ouad- 
ing  system  had  made  themselves  apparent  to 
the  eyt-8  of  christenuoir.  Again  and  again  its^ 
onenidednegs  its  fragmentary  traditions,  its 
veiBHiile  maxims,  its  fiagraii',  wrongs,  had  been 
displayed.  Nothii'g  seem'^d  wantii  g  but  a  stri- 
king Mccasion,  one  adtquite  to  eiiusc  ttie  sym 
p.»i,r  u-s  ol  the  werld,  lo  accomplish  a  rnd  cal 
te  t>vin  in  this  important  code.  It  was  not  iu 
c>>olorumy  with  the  spirit  of  the  age -not  iden- 
tical With  the  nnwiiiten  creed  of  universal 
biim>ia.iy  -nut  based  ob  principles  broad  as 
tliv  surface  of  the  globe,  and  sacred  as  the 
be'ua  oi  philanthropic  brotherhood.  Nor  could 
th.s  htute  of  things  be  avoided.  Within  a  lew 
y»^airi  nations  bavt  made  unprecedented  advan- 
ces in  I'je  variety.  Extent  and  intimicy  of  their 
inter  relations.  New  problems  have  offered 
tht  mstdves  lor  solution.  The  capacity  of  brl- 
ligereuts  to  injure  each  other  has  been  vastly 
augmented,  and  the  liability  of  neutrals  to 
sufff-r  from  war  -a  liability  toiinded  on  defer- 
ence to  combatants  -has  been  likewise  ii- 
crea^ed.  Almost  the  whale  surtace  of  society 
has  changed  wiuiu  the  ninete^inlh  century  ; 
and  cons'^qu'-nliy  an  inteiiiatioual  .system 
adapted  lo  lie  past,  ne«-.led  adjustment  to  the 
preoeut.    fSo  far  as  caa  be  seen,  this  occasiou 


has  been   los^  or,  at  least,  suspended,  and  W0 
have  ourselves  to  censure  for  it. 

Free  tra  .e  is  destined  to  reconstruct  iflierna- 
tional  law  The  freedom  of  the  seaii,  wbic^  is 
one  of  the  cardinal  facts  la  international  law, 
is  uo  truer'  or  grandt'r  a  principle  ib-in  the 
freedom  of  the  continent*.  Nations  as  such 
have  jurisdiction  ov  r  their  own  soil,  while  the 
oceans  are  common  property.  The  right  of 
the  sea  inheres  in  man  as  mm.  but  viewed  in  a 
broad  moral  light,  there  is  no  more  nationality 
in  pro  luction  aod  distnbutioH  than  nationality 
in  1  he  sea.  If  France  trade  with  Eigi.uid  by 
theexvh^nge  of  certaii  article.-^,  e-vch  wiches  to 
obtain  trom  the  other,  the  real  tealu  e  o(  the 
transaction  is  one  seclioa  of  the  earth  supply- 
ing another.  If  an  Americas  buy  of  a  German, 
it  IS  not  as  Amerlcaa  and  oerman  that  they 
transact  business,  but  as  one  citiz-n  of  the 
globe  purchasing  of  another.  Naiionality  has 
no  natural  connection  with  trade  and  com- 
merce, as  it  regurils  prescribing  conditions, 
under  which  they  may  occur.  Moreover,  no 
nations  can  assume  a  more  arrogant  and  j'erni- 
cioiis  power  than  to  determine  the  term-^  tfiat 
shall  govern  interchange  of  commodities.  If 
let  nlone,  the  commodities  will  internarionalize 
themselves.  But  nations  are  slow  to  discero 
that  a  liberal  and  enlightened  policy  is  equally 
a  tribute  to  their  own  sag>icity  and  the  wi.^d  ^m 
of  others  ;  and  the  last  folly  wbicb  they  yieul  la 
the  folly  of  dreaming  that  they  can  thriv.i  by 
injuring  their  neigboors.  The  ohjec  of  com-  • 
m^rce  IS  to  equalize  the  products  of  the  earth  } 
its  lunction  is  compensa'ive  ;  it  completes  one 
civilizition  by  availing  itself  of  the  sources  of 
another  civilizitio"  ;  but  just  in  proportion  as 
trade  is  restricted  these  objects  are  thwarted. 
Had  not  lalse  legislation  en  this  subject  ;iene- 
rally  outwitted  itself,  it  would  h:ive  arrested, 
long  since,  the  progress  ol  humanity. 

VVe  held  a  great  power  in  our  grasp  in  the 
shape  of  cotton,  and  we  turned  the  power 
against  ourselves.  Such  fatuity  would  ordina- 
rily require,  like  the  deposits  ol  mud  at  the 
mouth  of  tne  Missi<sipr>i.  some  centuries  for  its 
development,  but  we  eff  *cted  it  with  incredible 
dispatch.  The  leading  staple  of  our  indu-*lry, 
cotton,  internationaliz*id  our  trade.  It  pur,  us 
iu  alliance  with  Eirope.  No  other  article, 
known  to  commerce,  had  so  tullv,  so  closely, 
intertwined  itself  with  foreigt  interests.  T'le 
baud  of  the  bumlile  African,  who  toiled  in  a 
Southern  plantation,  w  is  the  initial  of  a  series 
of  fellowship*,  industna!,  mechanical,  u  ercan- 
tile,  comm^rc  al,  mauuiacluring,  that  teimiiia- 
ted  in  a  Victoria,  a  Napoleon.  I'-s  wide  range, 
from  the  commonest  osiiaburg  to  the  finest  lace, 
covered  an  immense  surlace  of  productive  ac- 
tivity, while  inventive  genius,  working  through 
liargreaves,  Arkwright,  Grompton,  and  Wtut- 
ney,  bad  probably  attained  it^s  utmost  limits  ia 
periecling  mac*»iuery  to  cheapen  its  products, 
and  fit  them  for  universal  u<e.  A  man  must 
have  an  atheistic  intellect  who  cmm-t  recog- 
nize the  speciil  besf  wmeni  ot  Providence  tn 
tLiis  mutuficeut  gift  to  the  Souih.  Nor  cm  I 
doubt,  that  one  of  the  divine  purp  ises  ol  this 
revoluliou  was  lo  test  our  capac;ty  to  employ 


PRINCIPLES   AND   POLICY, 


15 


wbicb  God  had  been  pleai^ed  to  confer  it  upon 
onr  pt-oplp.  The  test  waa  applied,  and  wt* 
failed  'o  sustain  it. 

!■  there  is  a  single  article  in  the  woild  that 
contains  in  itselt  all  the  niHxims,  principles 
deductioBs,  of  political  economy,  that  article  is 
cotton.  If  there  is  i>ne  that  presents  an  uaan 
pwerable  argument  for  free  trndf.  it  is  cotton. 
Hut  we  perverted  it  .rom  iis  u^es.  W"  shut  it 
up  to  the  service  ot  our  6elfiphne.>(S.  We  pur  it 
under  the  ban  of  the  restrictive  systi-m.  We 
undertook  to  convert  it  from  a  commercial 
power  into  a  politic  il  power.  It  was  to  be  out 
Tallyrand  pr«ciisinj;  the  arts  of  a  cunninir  Di 
plomncy.  By  its  ae^'ncy  we  were  to  acct^nd 
the  Throne  of  God.  seize  bis  sceptre,  and  oidaiu 
a  cotton  famine  in  E  .gland.  Provideuce  is 
sternly  retribtitive.  '•VViih  what  mea-ure  ye 
mete  it  sfiall  be  me^stirt-d  to  you  again.  '  Meai>' 
ure  for  mei:fiire !  The  pt)lioy  hurt  us  worse 
lhn'i  !t  hurl  England. 

Probe  any  social  phenomenon  to  its  heart, 
and  you  strike  a  moral  l;toi.  The  Koral  (act  in 
this  insiiince  is  simply  this,  via  :  w*-  hive  been 
untaithtui  to  our  political  siewardship.  False 
to  our  position,  w*-  have  sacrificed  our  princi- 
ples to  caprice  ;  our  vows  ale  unn.Qlled,  auU 
our  covenant  with  the  bnnherbood  <>!  hiuuaaity 
brok'^n.  TUe  proud  Piiarisee  thanked  God  thai 
he  wiis  not  an  •'exioitioner,"  bul  bis  meagre 
■  complacency  !S  denied  us.  Acba.i  i»iiid  lii*  lite 
for  lue  wt-djre  of  Gold,  but  our  Achans  revel 
in  un(*hHl^■D^ed  respeciHbility.  The  eloquence 
of  Poriia  p!f*deJ  against  Shylock,  but  our 
Portia?,  lilting  holy  bands  to  Heaven,  find  no 
re.-^pi""**  to  their  tiesf'eottinL'  tear.s. 

Looking  at  the  facts  that  have  thus  passed 
in  conspcutive  reviewtl,  you  c  n  hard'y  fail 
to  see  f  llow-countrymen,  that  p  I  tical  econ 
omy  is  a  nicely  balanced  syst  m  ot  compensa- 
tions, of  which  Providence  is  the  stern  and 
unrele.nting  t-xecutive.  Like  the  machinery 
of  a  vast  clock-woik,  whoso  wheels, "weights 
pendulum,  are  so  united  as  to  feel  in   all  in 


this  grpat  trust  in  accorf^ance  with  tie  ends  for  i  already  begins  to   appear.     We  are  realizing 
"'""'"'"  '         "  '  through    the    ministry    of  afflict  on    that  w^ 

cannot  stand  isolated  and  alone.  We  are 
learning  that  African  slavery,  entrusted  to 
our  hands  as  a  divine  institution,  is  an  Euro- 
pean fact  as  well  as  an  American  fact.  We 
are  learning  that  nations  canaot  convirt 
themselves  into  Icebergs,  floating  n  their 
wayward  channels  over  the  ocean.  We  are 
learninfr  that  nations  are  links  in  a  chain — 
each  welded  by  mightier  strokes  than  the  arm 
of  statfsmansnip  can  strike — and  that  along 
that  chain  girding  the  gU>be,  the  thoughts  of 
Providt'ute  flash  in  electric  light,  their  mo> 
mentous  meanings.  Arrayed  -gainst  u?  are 
all  the  agencies  that  our  enemies  can  sum- 
mon to  their  aid.  But  the.se  afjenoies  are 
achieving  an  end  which  they  have  not  fore- 
seen. Tbey  are  driving  new  wedges  of  tt{.»« 
ration  through  the  remaining  portions  of  tl.e 
old  Union.  The  foremost  secessionist  of  the 
day  is  President  Li  icolo,  aud,  all  unawares 
to  himself  and  bis  fanatical  party,  hi;  i.-  rap- 
idly disiueranering  his  coiiutry.  Xbe  elfort 
to  turn  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  into  the 
Erie  Canal  will  bring  a  deluge  ove  the  North 
i  I  due  time.  Outrages  on  private  rights 
consolidation  and  tyranny;  will  bring  their 
recompense;  and  these  laborious  efforts  to 
twist  cables  out  of  sand,  and  make  water 
fl  w  up  hill  will  provoke  their  reward.  Yea 
jes: 

"Tlie  milla  of  God  do  slowly  wiod. 
But  they  at  last  topowder  grind.'' 


We  are  entering,  fellow-countrymen,  on  an 
tventful  year.  The  moral  of  this  gipantic 
conflict,  presenting  hitherto  its  parliil  and 
detached  aspects  now  begins  to  emerge  in 
completeness,  into  the  profounder  conscious- 
ness of  bo;h  sections.  Ages  are  but  the  out- 
growth of  those  special  -easons  when  God 
confronts  the  nations  of  the  earth  with  the* 
stern  decisions  of  His  sovereignty.  Not  unfre- 


motio:.-  the  disturbance  of  a  sing  e  part,  thi.s  ,  ^^^^^  j^^e   those  awful    occasions,  marked   as 


wonderful  schemn  of  checks  and  balances  is 
prompt  to  repel  by  means  of  its  complicated 
forces,  any  inte  rupti  n  of  its  legitimate  ac- 
tivity. A  terrible  Nemesis  is  hidden  beneath 
its  agencies  ^nd  from  quirters  least  expected, 
punishment  advances  to  meet  our  offences 
Sooner  or  later,  we  learn  that  Providence 
cannot  be  cheated — that  for  every  wrong 
done  a  penalty  must  be  paid  down,  while  on 
the  other  side  of  its  inflexible  constancy,  we 
read  the  great  t  tith  uttered  ty  St.  Bernard, 
"Nothi'  g  can  work  me  damage  except  myself; 
the  harm  that  I  sustain  I  carr,  about  with 
mc,  and  never  am  a  real  sufferer  but  by  my 
own  fault." 

If  we  view  the  phenomena  of  this  war  in  a 
broad  light  we  cannot  escape  the  conviction 
»hat  Providence  is  overruling  the  issues  for 
much  wider  results  than  have  been  ex|)ected. 
It  has  chastised  our  errors  with  signal  deci^ 
sion,  but  the  mercy  oftLt^e  seveie  iutlictiotis 


judgment  days  in  the  calendar  of  time,  on 
which,  eternal  justice,-  long  robbed  of  its 
hallowed  rights  in  the  humanity  it  has  re- 
deemed, suddenly  appears  through  the  part- 
ing firmnment  on  its  great  while  throne,  anij^ 
summons  rulers  and  people  to  give  an  ac. 
count  of  their  stewardship.  Sue*!  an  occasion 
has  been  pending  for  these  three  years,  and 
indicatians  are  not  wanting  that  the  final 
hearing  in  'his  majestic  court  is  now  about 
to  occur.  Our  dea  i,  our  enemies'  dead,  hove 
risen  from  tbeir  graves  to  act  as  witnesses 
in  this  searching  inquisition,  and,  crowding 
the  rd  horizon  that  surrounds  th"  scene  of 
trial,  they  stretch  their  bloody  bands  towards 
the  judge  as  mut«  tokens  of  remember  d  an- 
guish. But  the  arch-angel  has.  not  been 
commissioned  to  place  one  foot  upon  the  sea, 
and  swear  that  for  us,  time  shall  be  no 
longer.  No  such  fate  awaits  us,  if  we  gird 
ourselves  for  the  final  crisis  now  impendiog. 


16 


ADDRESS   TO    THE  PEOPLE. 


Gird  ourselves  w?  will,  and  bravely  meet  the 
last  Onset  of  the  foe.  One  more  manly  resist- 
ance and  this  accnmulating  sug'',  pathetiug 
its  waters  from  two  hemispheres  r.ill  befrin 
to  roll  back  upon  Xorthtrn  shores,  its  muddj 
foam,  and  its  b  acker  filth. 

I  have  written  these  word?,  fellow-count.y- 
men,  plainly  and  earnestly,  hut  with  the  feel- 
tog  that  no   utter  .nee  of  rrwth  is  worth  any- 
Ihing  that  is  not  aliKe  tender  and  bold.     The 
i'aalts  of  our  policy  ;  the  errors  of  principlr 
which    we    have  coranutted  ;  the    occasional 
blunders  into  which  we  have  fiillcu,  are  due 
to  ourselves,  not  to  our  threat  leaucrs.  I  have 
no  other  than  fi'elinirs  of  esteem  and  admira-  ! 
lion  for  the  statesman  who  is  our  Chief  Execn-  i 
tive,  and  for  the  other   illustrious   men   who  I 
nre     connected    with    this    revolntion.     But  j 
\vhite  I  feel  tins   niDst  profoundly,  I  foel  aho  | 
th:it  ProTiiii?ncie  liii?  not  allowed   us   hithTto 
<o  j).it  forth  our  full  strength  in  this 'struggle. 
Our    genius    for     statesmanship,    tlv     most 
marked  fact  in  the  history  of  the  colonial  and 
Federal  -eras,  has   not  sustained  itself.     Its 
prestige  has  not  been  vindicated  ;  its  splendid 
abilities  have  been  put   u  ider  urrost,  denied 
their  foresight,  denied  their  easy  adequacy  to 
tho   demands  of    the   occasion  ;    and,    amid 
those    evils  which  always  descend   upon    a 
people  when   Providence  withdraws   its  illu- 
minations from  their  Btate^men,  we  have  been 
left    to    undergo    that    stern    discipline    of 
thought   and   virtue   which    this    revolution 
required    ns   the   most   vital    pre-requisite  to 
succeFs.     Signs  are  not  wanting   that  a  vast 
change  for  tho  better  is  approaching  its  cou- 
summation.      Had    we    disrupted-   ourselves 
from    poliilcal     falsehoods    and     pernicious 
heresies   when   we  severed   our   connections 
with  the  Union  ;  had  ou  ■  statesmen  dispens-'d 
with  the  necessity  of  a  transition  period,  and 
passed  at  once  from  worn  out  creeds  of  politi- 
cal economy  into  the  earnest  appreciation  of 
those  paramount  doctrines  which  are  founded 
in  internittional   comity;    we  should    to-day 
have  witnessed  another  state  of  things  in  our 
midst.     But  the  severe  training  is  perfecting 
its  glad  results.     Our  statesmanship  is  awak- 
ipg  to  a  sense  of  its  true  position.  The  future 
is  opening  its  blessedness,   and  never  did  a 
year  dawn  upon  a  people  with  more  promise 
than    18C4  dawns   on  the   citizens  of  these 
Confederate  States. 

We  shall  fight  this  year  as  we  have  never 
fought;  and,  if  Providence  so  ordain,  we 
shall  fight  on,  year  after  year,  until  our  pur- 
poses  are  accomplished.     In  arms  we  have 


I  not  been  uniformly  successful,  but  onr  cause 
!  has  always  been  victorious.  It  has  lost 
nothing.  It  has  gained  every  day.  Stronger 
this  hour  than  ever,  it  only  waits  for  us  to 
put  away  our  political  selfishness,  our  social 
selfishness,  our  Confederacy  selfis'nest — one 
and  all  inimical  to  truth,  ju^t  ce  and  charity  ; 
one  and  all  hateful  to  God  ;  it  only  waits  for 
this  result  to  crown  itself  with  completest 
glory. 

Through  the  Atlantic  ocean,  there  is  h 
majestic  river  called  the  gulf  streniu.  Start- 
ing from  the  fountain-head  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  warm  »vith  the  life  blood  of  the  equa- 
tor, a  balmy  summer  of  the  sea,  it  pursues  ici^ 
course  towards  the  Arctic  oceau.  No  citiiv 
adorn  its  bunks  ;  no  variegated  landscapr-i- 
streich  down  to  its  sides  ;  no  busy  hum  of 
industry  is  h^ard  up  'n  it-  shores;  no  church- 
bslls  cliime  with  its  runnirig  wafers;  no  poe- 
try tunes  its  menburis  to  its  blue  wavea. 
Within  the  ocean  it  is  not  of  the  ocean,  biic 
holds  its  distinctiveness  as  though  conscious 
of  itj own  appointed  tarks.  No  such  cutrent 
is  known  in  the  world.  "Its  current,'  says 
Lieutenant  Maury,  "is  more  rapid  than  the 
Mississippi,  or  the  Amazon,  and  its  volonie 
more  than  a  thousand  times  greater."'  Ofl' 
Cape  Hatterus,  olT  the  Grand  Hanks,  it  stil! 
holds  its  victorious  way.  hastening  ns  no 
river  hastens,  to  perfoim  its  de«!tined  work. 
And  then  fir  away  in  .Vonhern  latitudes  its 
vast  freight  of  heat  is  distributed  to  the  Brit- 
ish Isiauds  and  Wesi'Tn  Eui'ope,  relieving 
France  anJ  England  of  the  effects  of  their 
geographical  position.*,  and  adapting  theii 
climates  to  the  seat  of  magnidcent  civiliza- 
tions. But  this  grand  ag.^ucy  of  compen.-t- 
tion  is  only  symbolic  of  the  spUere,  which  wi- 
as  Pv  people  are  being  trained  to  fill.  Our 
sectionalism,  our  local  prejudices.our  dogma- 
tisms, are  undergoing  the  sure  proc^^ss  of 
liberalization,  and  Providence  is  preparing 
us  to  bless  tho  nations.  Let  us  be  patient 
and  hopeful.  Transitiou  periods  are  alwaj's 
convulsive.  Periods  of  preparation  are  dark 
and  gloomy.  But  a  splendid  future  is  ours 
if  we  will  be  co-workers  with  Providence. 
Our  political  creed  is  written  for  us  by  the 
hand  of  Heaven,  and  our  p"rt  is  to  accept  its 
principles  aa  final.  If  like  Niagara,  this 
stream  of  blood  pours  over  its  precipice,  like 
Niagara,  its  white  cloul  of  incense  rises  to- 
wards the  heave^s  of  God,  wreathed  with  the 
rainbows  that  prophecy  the  advent  of  a  most 
blessed  peace.  Cincinnati's. 


N 


ATLAMTA  DULY  REGISTER. 


THIS  JOIXBKAL  IB  THB  SUOCaSSOB  OW  THB 


jl  "KMUiiEii;.    ;VMiT.ii)AMr.«irBi]iw\\Eiim" 

|{   111  i^olitics,  it  is  opposed  to   tlie 
solida^tioix  of  tlie  States, 


con- 


XVD 


ll 


Maintains  the  Political  Opinions  embodied  in  the  within  Address. 


The  Editors  of  the  Hegistkr,  witli  no  little  experioDce  in  jonrnftlisaa,  ftnd  the 

Jj  facilities  t'l  -nisbed  by  ilie  couibinatioQ  of  two  publijliiog  eotubliahmeita,  htva 
BBcceoded  in  giviug  to  tbeir  rcaoers  hs  ^reat  »  variety,  und  as  judiciouily  ielected 
reading  matter  us  auy  paper  of  tue  Suuili.  Our  succeis  thus  far  has  been  unex*' 
•mplcd.      We  now   publisli  more  leading. matter  than  any  paper  iu  the  Soith, 

We  have  engu^co  ifae  Kerviccs  ot   Mr.  Keid,  who  attends  the  Army  of  Ten- 

fj  neesee  in  all  ua  iii(n-ciueiit«.  JJe  was  lonuerly  the  Aniiy  conespoudent  of  the 
I  Intellijrcncey  uiid  <j1  ''tlie  Alobilb  l^eas,  iu  which  he  vt;\»  kuuvvn  as  "29o"  and 
il'  "  Ura".  Mr.  lieid  will  fumieili  us  with  upeciul  Telegraiiid  and  also  with  detail- 
ed accounts  of  ciiv  xrxjvemeutjs  and  fortunes  of  that  nrmy,  ou  which  depends 
S  the  fate  of  Georgia  aud  of  the  (Joiifederalion,  Besides  Mr  Kcid,  we  hare 
I     "MarBliall"  aud 'Jiir.d"  aud  other  special  cjrrespondcms  ui  almost  erery  bri- 

Igade  of  the  Army  of  |Teuuessee.  There  i»  hardly  a  family  in  the  Gulf  States, 
a  member  of  .wUoie  liauseiiold  ia  not  with  Gen.  John-ton.  The  Registtr  be- 
tcorno.'s  .a  medium  of  ciiiniuuincation  between  the  abseub  und  those  at  home. 
From  liichuioud  w^!  have  a  regular  cou^ributoiyaud  "Johu  Halifax  Gent" 
Bead.j  us  luimiiable  s^:.Letclies  ;lroin  the  Army  of  Virginia,  while  "Cousin  NoUr- 
lua"  and  "(Jaiiiin"  "  i^lobh  aniufid"  everywhere.  ' 
r      JCerTEiiMs  :~ror  .lUoiiih,  SC)  00 

I  .!•  -A..  »JPJi:JRX^Y  &  CO.  . 

t)         Atlanta,  Ga.  ^ 


